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Friday, April 25, 2014

Where Else Can You Learn About Science While Wearing A Tiara?

Right Here In T.K.:

Transitional Kindergarten is alive and well in California. It is such a joy to provide students with developmentally appropriate activities and projects that prepare them for kindergarten and the CCSS they will need to master next year.

Where else can you study science in a tiara? :o)

Learning to work together.

Learning to get along.

Preparing For Kindergarten:

Have you noticed that there aren't ANY CCSS for T.K.? I'm not a big advocate of over-testing, but I do like to know which skills my students have mastered and which ones I need to focus on more. And it amazes me that, even thoughIthink I really know my students, once I test them I am usually surprised by some of the results.

What to do???

My district created standards for our T.K. based on the pre-school foundational standards and the kindergarten CCSS. After teaching T.K. this year, I re-visited our T.K. standards and re-vamped them. Then, I decided which assessments were the most valuable to me an I made easy-breezy FUN assessments to track my students' progress and I have to tell you that my kids LOVE them! Yes, you heard right, they LOVE the assessments! "Why?" you ask? Well, read on because you can try the special tests that I made for FREE. There are 2 ways: If you are already a member of ESGI, you can get access to my assessments for no additional charge. That's FREE. :o) If you aren't a member, you can register for a FREE 60 day trial and try out my assessments for yourself. AND if you sign up for a one-year membership you can save $40 by using my discount code B2174 during check out.

Most kids naturally LOVE electronic devices.

They can't wait for their turn.

Students getting the iPad ready for testing.
The teacher clicks on or touches "yes" or "no"
to record the students' responses.

Why My Students BEG To Be Tested:

I wrote my T.K. assessments using ESGI, which stands for Educational Software for Guiding Instruction. And it does just that! It is an amazing online testing system that is easy to use, FUN for your students, and provides the teacher with tons of information about each student to help guide instruction.

My students LOVE answering questions on an iPad or computer and they cherish the one-on-one time they get with me as I use my ESGI assessments to gain valuable data about what each child has learned. By using ESGI, I can assess all of the important skills in half the time of the old paper & pencil tests. By spending just a few minutes with each child I can get a profile on my entire class. And the data does't lie, so I get a quick and accurate picture of the skills my students have and don't have. That's why they say, "Click, click, done!"

You can use a desk top, laptop, iPad, or even and iPhone!
Here you can see 2 desk tops, 1 iPad and an iPad mini.
I use all of these to test students.

Why Teachers Love To Use ESGI:

You can use an iPad, laptop, or desktop to assess students and you will find your class eager to participate and your students will actually BEG TO BE TESTED.

But the best part is the data and resources ESGI provides. After testing, you can print out flashcards and even a parent letter (in English or Spanish) for each individual students. These make the best resources for R.T.I. or for parents to use at home with their child. Each flashcard has the child's name and the skill such as "letter name" or "letter sound" written on it. Imagine the time you will save having all of these resources at your fingertips. And you can try it for a FREE for 60 days.

You can also use iPods if you have
an Internet connection.

How Can You Find My Tests:

All of my T.K. assessments were carefully written to assess progress in your T.K. program. The title of each of my assessments begins with T-KFUN. The rest of the title is the kindergarten Common Core standard that it relates to. Once you have registered for the 60 day trial, you can click on any or all of my T-KFUN assessments and drag them into your own testing dock. You might want only a few of the basic tests (letter names, sounds, shapes, comparing sets, & number recognition) or you might like all of my TK assessments. Don't worry, this is super easy to do and ESGI provides all kinds of support to help you if needed. You can even email me. :)

Here Are A Few Of The Tests I Use:

Students' names are listed at on the left side (I smudged them out)
so you can click on an child's name to see their scores,
print their flashcards, print their parent letter, or test them.

Once you have assessed your students, just click on the bar graphs to see who has mastered certain skills and who hasn't.

Bar graph for sight words.
Click on the gray & it reveals the names of the students who did not pass.
Click on the green and it reveals the names of the students who did pass.

It will actually list the students who need more practice so yo can create a little re-teaching group.

You can print out their flashcards and store them in little Zip-lock bags labeled with their names and you can hand those bags to instructional assistants, parent volunteers, cross-age student tutors, or use them yourself to target the specific skills each child needs to learn.

Flash cards show the student's name, date tested, and the specific skill.

It is also a great idea to send home an updated set of flashcards at each conference and again for each vacation break, especially summer break.

Parent letters can be customized to show more or less of the assessments.
The letters can be printed in English or Spanish.

Parent letters give a quick visual resource so parents can quickly see
which skills their child needs to practice and which ones have been mastered.

So, How Do You Get These FUN Assessments?

Hop on over to:

You can register for the 60 day FREE trial which will give you a chance to try it out with this year's students.

Or you can register and take advantage of my discount code.

Just use the code B2174 when prompted

as you register and you will receive a $40 discount.
That's $40 off of the regular $199, so you get an entire year for $159.

Then, look for my tests in the Test Explorer tab.
All of my KFUNdamental TK assessments begin with "T-KFUN" in the title
and they all have "Palma Lindsay" as the author.

Here is an example of the titles of just a few of my TK assessments:

Reading
Foundational Skills:

T-KFUN.RF.1a-b: (Print Concepts)

T-KFUN.RF.3a-b: (Letter Sounds)

I know that these assessments will give you the information to track your students' progress in a FUN and relaxed way. I have used ESGI for years along with many teachers at my school and in my school district. I have saved sooooooo much time and have gotten so much valuable information too. I'm so happy to be able to use ESGI and my new tests with my T.K. students. I know you'll be happy too.

Deb, You don't have to create a thing. Just drag my tests from the top section of "test explorer" into the bottom section which is where your tests go. You can drag only the ones you want. All of my tests say, "Palma Lindsay" as the author and the title of each TK test begins with T-KFUN... There is a video that tells you how to grab tests from the test explorer. Hope this helps. :) Email me if you have any other questions or reply here. :)